Flatterland: Like Flatland Only More So

As a high school student, I was tortured into reading this book for Math Analysis. Having previously read Flatland, I was not keen on the idea of reading the sequel. My grade-conscious self got the better of me and I started to read the book. From the first chapter I was enthralled! Ian Stewart knew how to write and keep my attention. My parents had to threaten me so I would put it down so I could eat. (Imagine: a high schooler entranced in a MATH book!) I so totally recommend this book because I would have NEVER understood Mandelblot (er... Mandelbrot) nor would I have read on to discover a plethora of new dimensions (one and a quarter). I would recommend any person, avid mathematician or high schooler, to read this. It was easily understood and Ian Stewart is a fantastic writer! Too bad they didn't have ten stars!

This book is a sequel to Edwin Abbott's "Flatland" and makes its heroine a granddaughter of the hero of Abbott's book. Some people may find his playing with words excessive (his heroine is named "Victoria Line," combining the fact that she is literally a geometric "line" with the name of a subway line in London) but the book manages to cover a lot of territory in an amusing manner. I can't say I _learned_ a lot from the book, because I already knew most of its subject matter, but I'd certainly encourage someone who wanted to learn about curved spaces and higher dimensions to read it. The ultimate accolade: _After_ I had read it from cover to cover, I bought a copy, just so I'd have it in my own library.

"Flatterland" is a very thought-provoking book by Ian Stewart. It is the sequel to "Flatland". I would call it a mathematical fiction book. It is about a girl from Flatland, a 2D world. She is called Victoria Line (all women on Flatland are lines). She goes on a journey through many different dimensions and universes with a being called the Space Hopper. She learns much about math on the way. One of my favorite universes was Platterland, a 2D hyperbolic universe. While in Platterland she learns many things about hyperbolic geometry, including that straight lines appear to be curved, squares can have five sides and five right angles, and things shrink as they get closer to the edge of the universe! Another one of my favorite universes was Topologica, a 3D topologic universe. While there Victoria learns about topology and how two-holed doughnuts can turn into coffee cups! She also meets Moobius, a cow shaped like a Möbius strip (a 2D shape with only one side), who gives milk in Klein bottles! Klein bottles are bottles in which the top curves around and goes back into the bottle! Throughout the book there are many funny puns, right down to the name of the main character. Victoria Line is a subway line in London! The puns go very deep. One pun is about two people called Twindledum and Twindledumber. They are named after Tweedledum and Tweedledee from Lewis Carroll's "Through the Looking-Glass"! Another character is called the Hawk King, named after Stephen William Hawking! I really enjoyed reading this book. I highly recommend it to anyone who likes math and knows a little bit about it or just enjoys reading funny books! It helps if you have read "Alice in Wonderland" and "Through the Looking-Glass". Many of the puns come from them. This book is definitely not for young kids though, some parts were way over my head. All in all, I understood most of it-and it was great!

I have to disagree with the two other reviews. I've always had problems understanding some of the idea of modern mathematics. But after readingflatterland I get it. Flatterland puts it in an easily digestible form. Yes, some of the names (the Hawk king and Moobius, for example) are too cute for my sensibilities, but it clears up the mathematics. I found Victoria Line and the space hopper fun characters and the diagrams really helped bring the math down to my level. I rememeber the profound affect that Flatland had on me and trying to see things grow and shrink in this dimension. And not I've been equally caught up in thinking about fractals and time. Platterland was also a really mind-blowing chapter.

When I first struggled with the concepts of multi-dimensional space a friend recommended I read "Flatland" by Edwin A. Abbott. It was a best seller during the reign of Queen Victoria and I didn't expect to find it in a high street store. However, much to my delight, I found it in the mathematics section next to a book called "Does God Play Dice" by Ian Stewart. I bought them both and they had a profound effect on my choice of career. In "Flatterland" both my favourite subject and author have been combined in one book. Ian's style, both humourous and informative, brings the flatland characters into the context of this millennium and opens the readers mind to the rich complexity of the world of mathematics. The adventures of Victoria Line carries the reader through the book in an effortless ease. Ian is a winner of the Faraday Award, for the public understanding of science. His unique style carries the reader from chapter to chapter on a voyage that will enhance the readers understanding of some of the most challenging concepts and problems in mathematics. It may be a record for a sequel (over 100 years) but, having read it with the same enthusiastic delight as "Flatland" and "Does God Play Dice", it is not hard to picture a high street store 100 years from now with "Flatterland" still on the best seller list.Dr. G. Keith Still (Head of Mathematical Modelling - Starlab, Brussels)